Episode 157: What Factors are Driving the AfD’s Success?
The Alternative for Germany has received unprecedented support in state elections in 2026, especially in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In this episode of The Zeitgeist, Hannah Alarian discusses what issues and …
Merz’s Economic Challenge
The AfD’s Pressures on Domestic and European Policy The rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Germany is having an impact on the economic agenda of the German …
After Kohl and Merkel
Why the CDU Is Collapsing In September, the party of Adenauer, Kohl, and Merkel failed to win even five percent of the vote in Merkel’s own home state. It was …
The Crisis of Social Democracy
In 2025, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) experienced its worst electoral result since 1887, garnering a meager 16.4 percent of the vote and falling below the right-wing extremist …
Martin Thunert, DAAD/AGI Research Fellow
AGI is pleased to welcome Dr. Martin Thunert as a DAAD/AGI Research Fellow in fall 2026. He is Senior Research Fellow in Political Science and American Studies at the Heidelberg …
Recent Authors
AGI provides knowledge, insights, and networks as tools to solve the challenges ahead.
Support Our Work
On the Decline of Germany’s Major Political Parties
The decline of Germany’s major political parties, the Christian Democratic and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democrats (SPD), can be vividly illustrated in a single image (Figure 1). …
Berlin Voted for Change
Will Germany’s Political Center Listen? The most striking result of Berlin’s state election may also be its greatest paradox. Die Linke, a party long considered firmly anchored in Germany’s past, …
The 2026 State Elections: AGI Expert Analysis in the Media
In fall 2026, first-place finishes for the far-right and far-left in state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Berlin shook up German politics. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) will likely form …
Episode 156: State Election Aftershocks
Regional elections in Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Berlin saw successes for the far-right Alternative for Germany and far-left Die Linke and “disaster” for the mainstream parties. The episode of The Zeitgeist …
One of 83 Million
Last week, two sports figures offered very different answers to a deceptively simple question: what does it mean to stand with your country? In Washington, Capitals hockey legend Alexander Ovechkin …
Change at All Costs
Election Impressions from Saxony-Anhalt At 5:59 pm on Sunday, September 6, the anticipation in the whimsical restaurant tucked inside Magdeburg’s historic Millennium Tower was palpable. With all screens turned to …
The Unloved Chancellor
Following the results of the recent Landtag elections in Saxony-Anhalt, the press is already preparing Friedrich Merz’s political obituary. While he may be responsible for some of the discontent and …
New Rules of the Game in the Pharmaceutical Market
Austerity measures in the German healthcare system and the new U.S. pricing regime The national and international rules of the game have changed for the German pharmaceutical industry. At the …
AGI Profiles: Kai Wegner
Mayor of Berlin Kai Wegner, Berlin’s first conservative mayor in twenty-two years, initially emerged as the figure who could restore the Christian Democratic Union’s (CDU) position in Berlin. Yet after …
